Karlie Kloss, I love you, and I feel for you: dating Leonardo DiCaprio well after his Titanic looks went the way of The Departed. That must have been hard, but WTF is on your body right now? Most Native American imagery, like the headdress, has been established by recent controversies as off-limits. Therefore, Ms. Kloss, shaking your moneymaker near Justin Bieber is not okay (that’s not okay for any adult to do, frankly).

Back to this outfit–which is ridiculous, regardless of the racist imagery, the fringe and the turquoise (if I were speaking this would be the point where I say “Turquoise!” an octave higher than the first one.) Which, by the way, only confirms to me that they were looking at a World Book circa 1954 for inspiration. This mishegas is all to showcase a leopard-skin panty set, an animal that doesn’t live on the same continent that Native Americans do. Maybe they only had the “N” World Book and not the “L.” Except, those come together, if memory serves–I lost half of mine, too, as a child. The result of what Kloss is wearing is some weird amalgam of a cavewoman and “Sexy Pocahontas”–because you know that’s exactly the words they used in whatever creative meetings they had. This is what happens when you don’t know anyone who knows anyone who isn’t from Columbus, OH, where they’re based. And shame on them if they do. Putting those two themes together also serves as a highly trigger-worthy comparison of Native Americans to primitive beings.

And look, it’s not just minorities who find this offensive. Terry Schwartz of Zap2It wrote yesterday in her article:

No Doubt released a new video for their single “Looking Hot” over this past weekend, and the music video sparked almost instantaneous outrage from the Native American community.

Please tell me, by the way that she’s blowing a kiss in the Zap2It photo and not “woo-woo-woo-ing”. Schwartz makes a good point (And Michael K made it as well). Does no one in the entire Victoria’s Secret headquarters read the paper, watch the news (I mean, even E! covered it),or speak to other people? Put some claws on her and make a some leopard-skin wings real quick. You have a building full of people making those parade floats–they could do it. And if they couldn’t do it, Chris March could have! His team his awesome–and quick–and you would get free marketing and a bundle of good press out of your sensitivity. Yes, I’m available to consult with your marketing team, if you would like.

And wouldn’t that make more sense than choosing to make leopard-skin panties really pop with imagery that has nothing to do with sex or leopards? I die. For more than one reason, in fact. I was going to call this article Victoria’s Secret Does It Again, but we already have a post with that titlepublished less than two months ago.

I know Nene, I know.

This time, instead of offending a continent across the globe, they’re offending people native to this country. Way to keep it local, guys. Question for Victoria’s Secret: When will you (notCan you) apologize? And another question: Will you hire me, Terry Schwartz, and/or Nina Jacinto to look at your sketches beforehand? Or someone else–anyone? Because this is repeat publicity you don’t want.

This is what happens when capitalism is what you live inside of. We can rage and complain to no end, but Victoria’s Secret does not give a poop about human beings who are not at the top of Victoria’s Secret. Because it’s a macrobusiness in a neoliberal capitalist world. And therefore it exists within a narrative of imperialism and racism, and depends upon this narrative for it’s own survival, because the narrative perpetuates the system.

Anonymous

This is what happens when capitalism is what you live inside of. We can rage and complain to no end, but Victoria’s Secret does not give a poop about human beings who are not at the top of Victoria’s Secret. Because it’s a macrobusiness in a neoliberal capitalist world. And therefore it exists within a narrative of imperialism and racism, and depends upon this narrative for it’s own survival, because the narrative perpetuates the system.

Arthur Sanchez-León

‘…amalgam of a cavewoman and “Sexy Pocahontas”’

I just wanted to add that I read the animal print as being jaguar rosettes; the jaguar being an animal culturally important, even today, to many peoples native to Mesoamerica. So it is even more problematic that VS seems to be conflating and essentializing multiple indigenous cultures at once.

Thats what happens when you hire boring designers. They rape and pillage an entire culture for ideas. Lemme shed some schooling for Vicky’s Secrets: there are 550+ tribes in this country and only a handful wear a war bonnet. And seeing as how 1 in 3 Native American and First Nations women are the victims of sexual violence (last I checked of which was committed 82% of the time by NON-Native persons), and that they are 5 times more likely to die a violent death (i.e. rape and murder), we sure would appreciate them not hyper-sexualizing our people for their gain.

Race, Culture, and Identity in a Colorstruck World

About This Blog

Racialicious is a blog about the intersection of race and pop culture. Check out our daily updates on the latest celebrity gaffes, our no-holds-barred critique of questionable media representations, and of course, the inevitable Keanu Reeves John Cho newsflashes.

Latoya Peterson (DC) is the Owner and Editor (not the Founder!) of Racialicious, Arturo García (San Diego) is the Managing Editor, Andrea Plaid (NYC) is the Associate Editor. You can email us at team@racialicious.com.